Newspapers have been abuzz
with Salman Khurshid’s emphasis on the need for the Muslim community to
become self-dependent, “We need to learn a lot from the way the Blacks
and the Jews improved themselves in the US.” However, the clichéd
complaint continues to reverberate in our ears day in and day out that
muslims are suffering because of their insensitivity towards issues, as
if they would wait until eternity for a messiah to act on their behalf.
When called for lending a hand to a noble cause, by an NGO, or to
participate in an act of charity, or to escalate an issue to a
government agency, to help our neighbors, to keep the bylanes in front
of our own houses or masajid clean, we hear that no one has any time or
will. Well, we are told that, in parties or in tea-shops, they do get
time to talk incessantly on issues as if they know them inside out;
however their talks remain mere tools to win arguments or to prove
their intellectual superiority over other participants. Their debates,
emotional or rational, hardly ever translate into actions that could
help the community rise in stature. Are they really so insensitive, or
is something missing in the call of the NGOs? To get an answer, let us
try to explore why people volunteer where they do, why they readily
contribute their valuable time and hard-earned money to Missionaries of
Charity, for example, or to Wikipedia and Linux.

Are people still
using the encyclopedia that famously decorated the shelves of educated
homes, some of them as a symbol of status while most others for genuine
necessity? Why Wikipedia left its competitors way behind in competition
needs to be dealt with separately. Who developed Wikipedia? Who
continues to add content to it or improve the existing content? Which
company? Which individual(s)?
This is how
Wikipedia describes itself:●
Wikipedia is written, edited, maintained, and almost
completely operated by volunteers from around the world.●
Wikipedia is free and without advertisements. It is operated
by a private non-profit foundation, supported by hundreds of thousands
of individual donors.

Wikipedia is
written collaboratively by largely anonymous Internet volunteers who
write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make
changes to Wikipedia articles (except in certain cases where editing is
restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism). Users can contribute
anonymously, under a pseudonym, or with their real identity, if they
choose.

There are more
than 85,000 active contributors working on more than 21 million
articles in more than 280 languages. As of today, there are 3.94
million articles in English. Every day, hundreds of thousands of
visitors from around the world collectively make tens of thousands of
edits and create thousands of new articles to augment the knowledge
held by the Wikipedia encyclopedia.
One may wonder
why more than 85,000 intellectuals from all walks of life actively
contribute their time for free to Wikipedia, whereas Muslim NGOs
looking for volunteers lament the attitude of people in today’s society
that “they are not ready to spare their time for any social or charity
work”. How come the will of Muslim community does not converge to the
will of Allah Who exhorts them throughout Quran to indulge in good
deeds as if in a race! Is something
wrong with the community members or
are the Muslim NGOs to blame?In The Cathedral
and the Bazaar, Eric Steven Raymond cites from the autobiography of the
19th-century Russian anarchist Pyotr Alexeyvich Kropotkin’s Memoirs of
a Revolutionist:Having been
brought up in a serf-owner’s family, I entered active life, like all
young men of my time, with a great deal of confidence in the necessity
of commanding, ordering, scolding, punishing and the like. But when, at
an early stage, I had to manage serious enterprises and to deal with
[free] men, and when each mistake would lead at once to heavy
consequences, I began to appreciate the difference between acting on
the principle of command and discipline and acting on the principle of
common understanding.The former works
admirably in a military parade, but it is worth nothing where real life
is concerned, and the aim can be achieved only through the severe
effort of many converging wills. [as]Raymond says
that the “severe effort of many converging wills” is precisely what a
project like Linux requires – and the “principle of command” is
effectively impossible to apply among volunteers in the anarchist’s
paradise we call the Internet.For Muslims,
Quran is the basis for the all-important principle of common
understanding, the Prophet’s life history a far better example of
volunteerism than Wkipedia or Linux. Still, why do Muslim NGOs fail to
get volunteers? A closer look at the factors that may keep people away
from a serious NGO initiative brings us to the realization that
“principle of command” may be the biggest impediment. It is easy to
pass the buck and blame the people for lack of volunteerism, but should
we not consider that as seeking refuge in excuses? Coming to excuses,
we do find thousands of excuses even when asked to do a simple useful
thing. Why is it that our will does not converge with our wisdom
(knowing well, this is useful and must be done)? Instead of taking
shelter under those excuses, if we leave our ego behind, relinquish
control and command over the willing volunteers, we might easily pool
talents that help bring about a paradigm shift in the culture of NGOs
engaged in socio-economic, educational, or charity work. Talents bloom
in an environment which is conducive to experimentation, transforming
what comes to mind into concrete plans before the ideas get crushed
under tall command structures, chained by the inflexible complicated
clauses of statutes and constitutions, or simply fizzle out. If we tie
the hands of talented volunteers so as to exercise unnecessary checks,
even the best of ideas might not get transformed into feasible
projects, and even the best of projects may remain stuck onto the
drawing boards, or in red-tapes. As long as NGOs continue to suck
talents into their own tar-pits of ego, false pride, selfish lust and
greed, can they attract the culture of volunteerism to prosper? And,
without bringing about a revolution in Muslim volunteerism, can we
expect a succor for the community? We would need to bring about a
paradigm shift from the prevalent organizational mindset to the
paradigm of open-source wherein “free” is the most important guiding
value.

In
today's times Alhamdulillaah, we find many good Scholars and Orators on
Islam. We also find many daa'ees working to spread the message across
to their neighbours and friends. That's a good sign; but then, that's
not the only way to spread the truth of Islam. There's a very old
saying "Actions speak louder than Words"; I truly believe in it. It is
our actions that can win the hearts of those around us.

In the
earlier generations of the Muslim Ummah, the Muslims, the Sahaabaa
(Prophet's Companions) travelled far and wide across the globe to
spread the truth of Islam. In the process, many entered the
neighbouring lands as merchants and traders. The Muslim traders were
known for their truthfulness and integrity. They didn't cheat in
business, nor did they misappropriate the goods during transactions.
This was the highlight for the onlookers to guage the veracity of the
followers of the religion Islam, which led many embrace
Islam,
after their interactions with the muslim traders.

Note: "Impressed by the honesty and integrity of these merchants, a
large number of Malays accepted Islam". (Source: http://historyofislam.com/)

But,
today, most of the Muslims are religious in certain areas
where
it involves certain rituals; but when it comes to business, they don't
really hold to the values set in Islam. In today's times, many Muslims
prove to be frauds in the business transactions. This is something
which is foretold by our Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam.

Prophet's companion Hudhaifa radhiyallahu 'anhu narrated that:Allah's
Apostle related to us two prophetic narrations; one of which I have
seen fulfilled, and I am waiting for the fulfilment of the other. The
Prophet told us that the virtue of honesty descended in the roots of
men's hearts (from Allah) and then they learned it from the Qur'an and
then they learned it from the Sunna (the Prophet's traditions). The
Prophet further told us how that honesty will be taken away: He said:
"Man will go to sleep during which honesty will be taken away from his
heart and only its trace will remain in his heart like the trace of a
dark spot; then man will go to sleep, during which honesty will
decrease further still, so that its trace will resemble the trace of
blister as when an ember is dropped on one's foot which would make it
swell, and one would see it swollen but there would be nothing inside.
People would be carrying out their trade, but hardly will there be a
trustworthy person. It will be said, 'in such-and-such tribe there is
an honest man,' and later it will be said about some man, 'What a wise,
polite and strong man he is!' Though he will not have faith equal even
to a mustard seed in his heart." No doubt, there came upon me a time
when I did not mind dealing (bargaining) with anyone of you, for if he
was a Muslim his Islam would compel him to pay me what is due to me,
and if he was a Christian, the Muslim official would compel him to pay
me what is due to me, but today I do not deal except with such-and-such
person. (Bukhari, 9-88, # 208)

Allah
would honour the truthful traders on the day of Judgement. The Prophet
said that a righteous business man will be resurrected along with the
Prophets. He said that "an honest and trustworthy merchant
will
be with the martyrs on the Day of Resurrection." (Ibn Majah and
al-Hakim, who classified it as "sound.")

In another statement he
said that "an honest and trustworthy merchant will be with the
prophets, the truthful, and the martyrs." (Al-Hakim and al-Tirmidhi,
with good transmitters.)

The status of the truthful traders are
such that they would be in the company of the Prophets. That's a great
motivation to be a trader!

For many, it is easy to sport the
beards and wear the skull caps in the Market; but when it comes to
speaking truth in business, to them it is harder than performing Hajj.
There are men amongst us, whom we cannot trust in business. If when
entrusted with certain responsibilities, you'll find them embezzling
and betraying you, when it matters the most to you. How can a community
prosper, when the members of the community cheat one another in their
daily dealings!
The
Prophet said, "He who cheats, is not one of us". Once the Prophet
passed by a pile of food and put his hand into it, and his fingers
touched something wet. He said, “What is this, O seller of the food?”
The man said, “It got rained on, O Messenger of Allaah.” He said, “Why
did you not put it (the wet part) on top of the pile so that the people
could see it? He who deceives does not belong to me.” According to other reports, “He
who deceives us is not one of us,” or, “He is not one of us who
deceives us.” (Muslim).

Allah says in the Qur'an,Woe
to Al Mutaffifoon (those who give less in measure and weight). Those
who, when they have to receive by measure from men, demand full
measure, And when they have to give by measure or weight to (other)
men, give less than due. [al-Mutaffifeen 83:1]

It's time
to remember a time when Allah destroyed a people of a land when it's
people were engaged in cheating in business. Prophet Shu'aib preached
to the people of Madyan, to be just in business dealings. But they were
persistent in cheating; hence Allah destroyed them.

Allah says in the Qur'anAnd
to [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu‘aib. He said, "O
my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. There has
come to you clear evidence from your Lord. So fulfill the measure and
weight and do not deprive people of their due and cause not corruption
upon the earth after its reformation. That is better for you, if you
should be believers. (Qur'an 7:85)

"So the earthquake seized them, and they became within their home
[corpses] fallen prone".
"Those
who denied Shu‘aib - it was as though they had never resided there.
Those who denied Shu'aib - it was they who were the losers".
And he
(Shua'ib) turned away from them and said, "O my people, I had certainly
conveyed to you the messages of my Lord and advised you, so how could I
grieve for a disbelieving people?" (Qur'an 91-93)

It's time to
ponder deeply over the above verses of the Qur'an. Allah is swift in
taking retribution. Allah will surely punish those who cheat people in
business. May Allah help us to become good traders; not traitors.